The present invention relates generally to a multiple compartment package for use in the packaging of food. More particularly, the present invention relates to a multiple compartment package for separately packaging at least two different articles of food that are typically consumed at the same time but that cannot be co-packaged in direct contact with one another.
Consumers today rely upon food that can be rapidly prepared at home. Rapid preparation depends upon food that is pre-prepared to a degree where consumers may merely transfer and heat the food. One type of pre-made food enjoyed by consumers is pre-made dough.
Refrigerated, pre-made dough products are very popular because they enable consumers to enjoy home baked goods without expending the time and effort needed to prepare the dough. These refrigerated doughs range from doughs for biscuits and breads to sweetrolls, to cornbread products. A variety of pre-made dough compositions are known in the art. For example, the Yong et al. patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,315, the Matz patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,356,506 and 3,397,064, the Atwell patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,801 and the Lutz patent U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,682, each describe refrigerated pre-made dough compositions. Refrigerated dough compositions described in these patents generally include about 27 to 36.5 percent water by weight and about 1 to 3.7 percent by weight of leavening agents. The pressure generated by storage of these refrigerated dough compositions is about 1 to 25 psig.
Refrigerated, pre-made dough compositions are typically subjected to a "proofing" step during which leavening agents in the dough begin to react. During the proofing step, the volume of the dough expands by approximately 1 to about 15 percent. After proofing, the dough is further developed by storage in a sealed container at refrigeration temperatures. During this time, the leavening agents complete reacting and the internal pressure of the container reaches a selected equilibrium pressure and the dough attains an equilibrium temperature.
It is desirable to consumers and food manufacturers to package foods such as refrigerated dough products with other foods commonly used with the dough to make a final food product. Unfortunately, these other foods frequently cannot be packaged in direct contact with dough in a single container. For example, foods having a semi-fluid state at ambient temperature, such as icing or butter, are not compatible with a semi-solid state food, such as dough, because moisture and oil migration from the icing or butter into the dough destroy final baked product integrity and organoleptic qualities, such as firmness or palatability. Also, the icing integrity is destroyed when the dough is heated.
Further, food products having multiple constituents, such as icing and dough, require different conditions for packaging and storage. For instance, foods such as icing are packaged under ambient temperatures using gravity loading methods. However, other foods, such as dough, require packaging under cool or warm temperatures in order to pressurize a storage container. The packaged dough is subsequently stored under refrigeration. Refrigerated dough storage containers may include multi-layer spirally wound or convolute paper containers, as well as plastic and aluminum cans.
The Turpin patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,851,757, describes a multiple compartment container having a cylindrical container portion with a closed end and an open end opposite the closed end. A cup is inserted into the open end of the cylindrical container portion and is filled with a desired product. Next, a separator plate is placed over the cup and dough is inserted into the cylindrical container portion. The cylindrical container portion is then sealed and the dough is proofed. Proofing causes the dough to expand in the container and to force the separator plate against the cup to prevent the product in the cup from mixing with the dough. One disadvantage of the container described in the Turpin patent is that placing the cup in the cylindrical container portion increases the complexity of packaging the dough and limits the conditions under which the dough can be packaged.
Another multiple compartment container for packaging incompatible food components is described in the Parlour patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,459. In the Parlour patent, a cylindrical container has a first end and a second end opposite the first end. The first end includes a closure element that includes a circular lip that defines a central opening to the cylindrical container. A cup having a main body and a flange at an end of the main body is inserted into the first end of the cylindrical container. The flange permits the main body of the cup to pass through the central opening of the cylindrical container but prevents the cup from passing through the lip of the closure element. A separating plate is positioned over the cup to cover the cup. A seal formed between the lip of the closure element of the cylindrical container and the flange of the cup allows gas to escape from the container while dough undergoes a proofing step and expands. However, if the dough has not leavened sufficiently to force the separating plate against the icing cup, the cup contents may leak thereby destroying dough developing and container integrity.
Similarly to the packaging described in the Turpin patent, pressure from the expanding dough forces the separating plate against the cup and thereby prevents a food stored in the cup from intermixing with the dough. However, if the dough has not expanded sufficiently to force the separating plate against the cup, the contents of the cup may become intermixed with the dough and thereby degrade the quality of the dough.
Therefore, a multiple compartment container is desired which improves reliability of product quality and consumer handling. It is also desirable that the multiple compartment container ease production and post-production handling. Further, the multiple compartment container should accommodate constituents that are supplied in a liquid, semi-fluid or solid particulate form so that the constituents can be copackaged with the dough constituent.